Lens Flare: Year of the Trail Camera UFOs

Among Ufologists, especially those in Texas, perhaps 2008 was best known for the widely reported UFO sightings emanating from around Stephenville, Texas, beginning in January of that year. Similarly, 2010 may be remembered as the year of the Trail Camera UFOs; although many of the objects in question can be explained, the verdict is still out on some of the curious occurrences we’ve been made privy to this year.

A widely reported incident occurring near Fort Worth earlier this year detailed the appearance of an alleged “UFO” seen hovering in the distance behind a food plot intended to attract deer, where a trail camera had been fixed to a tree to photograph the animals. In this instance, a more mundane explanation was found for the occurrence of unexplained lights in the trail camera’s view, as explained by a Texas-area MUFON investigator named Fletcher Gray:

“For some unknown reason, the camera shutter was remaining open, and (as) the infrared strobe fired it would catch a bank of lights. The strobe has 14 LED-type bulbs across and with five bulbs vertical, with a total of 70 LED bulbs. If you look at the photo of what was called a “UFO,” you will count 14 lights that matches the 14 bulbs in the camera.”

Incidentally, around this time, I was contacted by a man from Klamath Falls, Oregon, who claimed to have captured a similar-looking “object” using a trail camera near his home. Writing at my blog, I felt that a mundane explanation existed in this circumstance as well, explaining to my contact that what he had managed to photograph appeared to be what, in Fortean circles, has been collectively called a “rod” or “sky fish.” These odd photo-remnants, once believed to represent an airborne life form of mysterious origin, were eventually discovered to only be moths and insects which, captured in mid-flight using a long photographic exposure, which gave the appearance of an odd spiraling body as the wing beats of the creature were recorded on film.

Perhaps, however, the third time is the charm, as the old adage goes. The most recent incident involving something strange and extraordinary appearing on a trail camera is brought to us from Boonsboro, Maryland. Writing forAll News Web, author Ken Pfeifer details a strange incident recorded on a trail camera which, much like the previous instances, has some folks wondering if aliens have now shifted their attention from cattle mutilations to that of raccoons and deer, as these photos appear to indicate. Is E.T. attempting to beam-up a different bovine, or will another mundane explanation explain this odd-looking halo of light as well? What are your thoughts?

Micah Hanks is a writer, podcaster, and researcher whose interests cover a variety of subjects. His areas of focus include history, science, philosophy, current events, cultural studies, technology, unexplained phenomena, and ways the future of humankind may be influenced by science and innovation in the coming decades. In addition to writing, Micah hosts the Middle Theory and Gralien Report podcasts.